Whiskey Journey: From Seed to Grain

Bourbon is 100% original to the United States, but it is not “wholly” American as our forefathers who immigrated to this fertile land brought with them their secrets. Beer was a beverage option as well, but it couldn’t be stored for long periods and had to be consumed quickly. It was prone to bugs and spoiled fast, thus the idea of a distilled spirit was born from fermenting cereal grains and starches like wheat, malted barley, rye, and corn. Scottish and Irish settlers brought their knowledge of spirits (mostly malted barley; late 18 th century saw wheat and rye) and imparted them amongst their new neighbors.

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These grains were expensive and weren’t being planted in the yields that corn was already growing naturally in, especially in Kentucky. Corn grew in abundance throughout North America, and even before the Scots & Irish would introduce wheat and rye to their spirits, the settlers would begin making 100% Corn whiskey because their finished product fetched more profit than the crop itself.

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Corn whiskey doesn’t need oak like bourbon does and would often be stored and transported in jugs. Sometime in or around the 1780’s in early America, legends would begin about whiskey being aged in charred oak barrels, a much older tradition from Europe, and began being labeled as Bourbon. Is that after Bourbon St in New Orleans where barrel’s started showing up with branding? Was it after the French house of Bourbon? We may never know, but the French influence is palpable and points to the French immigrants who came here and quickly put their farming traditions to use on American soil amongst the Scots, Irish, German, and Welsh.

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Corn is an ingredient in whiskey that imparts the flavors of brown butter, creamy corn bread, honey, and just over all sweetness. Corn is the sweetest of whiskey grains, whereas rye or barley can come off as harsher when young. Barley, however, is the ingredient that once cooked, has the most enzymes to metamorphose the starches from the grain into sugar. This helps the yeast turn into alcohol. The flavor profile of malted barley can stretch from orchard fruit like pears and apples, to more refined flavors like chocolate and nutty components.

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With Rye, you will get a varying degree of flavors (as with many whiskey grains) with different age statements. Younger Rye’s of 2-4 years typically won’t have a pronounced oak or vanilla finish like a 8-15 year old rye would. The younger rye will often come off as hot, spicy, or peppery with flavors of clove and black pepper. To be classified as a Rye, its needs to make up 51% of the mash bill, and nearly every rye you consume will be a little dryer finish than a bourbon. It lacks the 51% or more corn that it would take to sweeten the whiskey. I absolutely love Rye and recently tasted two which blew me away: High Wire 100% Heirloom Abruzzi Rye and E.H. Taylor Straight Rye. They couldn’t be more different, nor could they be any more enjoyable than the other. That’s whiskey for ya. Which brings me to the last grain I want to mention: Wheat.

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If you’re like me, you save your favorite for last. “Wheated Whiskey” is a sub-category and actually doesn’t have an official designation like Corn Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, or Malt Whiskey. Some of the better “Wheaters” on the market are Larceny Barrel Proof, the lineup of William Larue Weller, Redemption, Maker’s Mark whisky, Pappy Van Winkle, Old Fitzgerald, and a hard-to-get house favorite, 1792 Sweet Wheat from Barton Distillery. Typically, in a wheater, you’ll remove the rye from the mash bill and replace it with wheat; although many distillers simply add wheat to the profile and that would be called a “Four Grain” whiskey. What the distiller is doing when replacing rye with wheat, is toning down the spicy and peppery flavors and filling the gap with a softer and sweeter profile. It brings about aromatics of cinnamon and cedar, flavors or baked Apples and sweet breads, and a finish of light vanilla bean and Crème Brule.

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I’ll make a note that we poured a MGP (Indiana distilled) sourced bourbon during our 1 st Annual Golf Tournament, Redemption Wheated Bourbon, and it was one of the bigger hits amongst stalwart bottles. It ranges anywhere from $40-$80+ on the secondary market, but truly drinks like the more expensive drams mentioned above. The mash bill of 51% Corn, 45% Wheat, and 4% Malted Barley is uncommon, and I personally recommend any of our readers to go try it. Wheat can be trouble for distillers as it carries an elastic compound to it when cooked: think rolling dough for biscuits or pizza. For early settlers, blight was a problem and could mean doom for a small population west of the Appalachian Mountains, and wheat was more prone to that blight over the often-favored hardy Rye.

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To the men and women who pioneered forward and didn’t give up on wheat as a grain in whiskey, I personally thank you. The full or rounded mouthfeel I get with a delicate wheater is as fulfilling as looking at your grass after you mow it. It’s not a coincidence that Pappy Van Winkle, Weller, Old Fitzgerald and others fetch upwards of 10X the cost of MSRP. They are all wheaters. Start with a top shelf Maker’s Mark offering or the Redemption Wheated Bourbon. If you like them, save up your money and buy one of the “big boys” for a special occasion.

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In conclusion…be educated. It’s as simple as opening a book (Stave & Thief Society), following our whiskey journey, or blazing a trail of knowledge alongside a friend or loved one. If your palate doesn’t love the characteristics of a particular supporting grain, move on from it and make mental note of the mash bill. I’d recommend coming back to that label on down your path of knowledge but find your sweet spot first. Find what you like and start to pick out notes on the nose, palate, and finish. Pretty soon you’ll try 2-3 labels with the same mash bill of different ages and you’ll either love the progression or not prefer it at all. The only way to advance your own palate is to make those mental notes.

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The best part about all of this: The Gamecock Bourbon Society will afford you the ability to try dozens upon dozens of labels each year at our events. We will have public & private tasting highlighting similar grains of different distillers, as well as highlighting whiskies of completely different mash bills. Whether you just follow us on social media, or participate in our highly anticipated, High Proof Club, we will provide you with monthly opportunities to taste some of the very best whiskey that money can buy. There will be not shortage of a good time on our Whiskey Journey.